Zbraslav
Zbraslav (Czech pronunciation: [ˈzbraslaf]; German: Königsaal; Latin Aula Regia) is a municipal district and cadastral area of Prague. The southernmost district of Prague, it lies on the Vltava River in the national administrative district (správní obvod) of Prague 16.
The former independent municipality of Zbraslav is now one of two cadastral areas in the Prague-Zbraslav Municipal District (Městská část Praha-Zbraslav). The other is Lahovice.
Zbraslav was founded in 1118. In the 13th century, the king Wenceslaus II of Bohemia founded here a very influential Cistercian abbey which was called Aula regia in Latin. The medieval monastery became the burial place of Bohemian kings. The Madonna of Zbraslav (a masterpiece of Bohemian Gothic fine art) was painted for this monastery in the 1340s.
In 1935, V. F. Bulgakov founded an important Russian museum here with collections dedicated to Russian emigrants, but the museum was closed and confiscated by the Communists before 1948.
In 1924, Žabovřesky and Záběhlice were joined to Zbraslav. In 1967, Zbraslav was elevated to be a "město" (= town, city). Zbraslav was merged into the city of Prague in 1974. It used to house the Chinese and Japanese collections of the National Gallery in Prague in the building of former monastery.
Zbraslav was also the residence of songwriter Jaromír Vejvoda (1902–1988), best known internationally for "The Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel)." Vejvoda's home is now a restaurant called Škoda Lásky with paraphernalia relating to the songwriter.
Other famous people
- Petr Žitavský (1270 – 1339), abbot of the Zbraslav Monastery, politician and author of the Zbraslav Chronicle, history of Bohemia in the 13th and early 14th century.
- Vladislav Vančura, famous novelist.
References
External links
- Unofficial Zbraslav page (in Czech)
- Official page of the Prague-Zbraslav Municipal District
- Czech radio story on Jaromír Vejvoda (in Czech)
- Czech municipal census figures (in Czech)
- Zbraslav and history (in Czech)
- Volunteer fire company of Zbraslav (in Czech)
